A NOTORIOUS killer who brutally murdered a pensioner was permanently released from jail last Friday after serving 11 years behind bars.
Francis Palmer (42), was at the centre of one of the most savage crimes of the 1990s after he shot dead a pensioner during a raid on a home in Rosegreen, Co. Tipperary.
The Dublin criminal was part of an armed gang that gunned down innocent cattle dealer Danny Fanning (71), in cold blood in front of his terrified wife at their home.
The court heard that a gang had targeted Mr Fanning after being told that on cattle market days the elderly farmer often returned home with more than £60,000, which he kept in a safe. However, their information was out of date and they fled with a wallet containing just £155 after "punishing" Danny by shooting him in the knee.
Life
Bizarrely, Palmer's name hit the head-lines again in 2005,when it emerged his twin brother was dating pop queen Samantha Mumba.Former male stripper Gary Palmer went out with the singer for a few months.
However,killer Francis finally walked free from prison on Friday morning after signing forms agreeing to the terms of his release. Palmer is the second high-profile 'lifer' to be released from the Training Unit in recent weeks. Two weeks ago, DATE: Samantha & Garv killer Sean Courtney also walked free from the same jail after spending 20 years behind bars for the murder of Patricia O'Toole.
Courtney (46), was sentenced to life in 1993 after admitting he battered the 31-year-old newlywed to death with a rock and dumped her body in the Dublin mountains. A source said Palmer will be released under strict conditions and will be returned to prison if he gets up to his old tricks. "He will be released on permanent licence and, if he is arrested in connection to a crime, can be taken back into prison without being convicted in a court."
Last month, the Sunday World revealed how Palmer was commuting from Mount joy Prison to his job as a mechanic in West Dublin.
In May 1997, Palmer, originally from Foxborough Road, Lucan,Co. Dublin, was jailed for life. The court was told how two men wearing balaclavas and brandishing sawed-off shotguns had burst into Danny Fanning's home and ordered him and his 65 -year-old wife Biddy to lie on the floor.
The couple's youngest daughter Rose (26), was forced into the farmhouse by a third masked man wielding a baseball bat.Biddy and Rose were taken into a bedroom where they were tied up. After shooting the farmer in the leg and cutting the phone lines the gang made their get-away in Rose's car.
Bleeding
When the women wriggled free 15 minutes later they found Danny tied to a chair and bleeding heavily. By the time neighbours fetched a doctor he was dead.
